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Hello, what have we here? Another Rebel Transmission! And if you’re wondering why I’m talking like Lando Calrissian… please stop reading this, go and watch this episode, and then come back. Because yeah this awesome episode involves everyone’s favorite old smoothie! No not Han… though that would make sense since Lando called him an “old smoothie”, but in this case I’m referring to Lando! If I were referring to Han I’d be calling him “everyone’s favorite scoundrel” or “everyone’s favorite nerf herder” or something of that sort. Wow I am just chatty as a bird today aren’t I? Just excited! After a handful of emotionally-stirring, heartstring-tugging, tear-shedding episodes, Idiot’s Array brings us back to the more lighthearted side of the show with all the Ghost fam’! So let’s get started shall we?NOTE: Contains spoilers from Episode III, Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Zorba The Hutt’s Revenge, and Rebels episodes Empire Day, Path Of The Jedi, and Idiot’s Array.

We start off at a familiar old joint, the same we saw back in Empire Day. Though we get to see it from the outside… and it literally has a Republic gunship built into it! Seriously it never ceases to wow me when I see those subtle ties to the world fifteen years past. Kanan was here, asking the Ithorian barkeep for some potential work. While Zeb plays Sabacc with a couple of strangers. Somehow just knowing it’s Sabacc immediately makes me think “Zeb’s gonna lose”. Between incidents involving the Falcon, and in one of Paul and Hollace Davids’ books, Cloud City’s casinos, it seems that there’s a hit-or-miss ratio in this game… and Lando was the loser in both the ones I mentioned! But yeah I love how well they concealed Lando’s presence. If not for all the footage of him going around prior to the episode’s debut I probably wouldn’tve picked up on it either! But yeah even Chopper knows this won’t end well, as he bangs his dome against the table. Seriously is it just me or does Chopper get more entertaining to watch each episode? 😀 As far as the “job hunt”? Old Jho redirects Kanan to the gentleman at the Sabacc table, who might be looking for a pilot. Once Kanan gets over there… it seems that Zeb might’ve bet Chopper in their little game. Kanan objects for ten seconds before seeing that there’s seemingly no way Zeb could lose. And those of us in the audience immediately mutter “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”, because again, the hit-or-miss ratio in this game. It can’t be that easy, right? Chopper’s clearly saying “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!” XD But yeah Chopper and all of us are right. The only thing that can trump a “sabacc” is an “idiot’s array”. And Chopper goes and bangs his dome again. So the winner and apparently Chop’s new owner is… Lando Calrissian! YUS this guyyy!! Once I first heard that he was going to be in the next episode and saw his Rebels look, I exploded in fangirliness. I mean, it’s been great having Billy Dee Williams himself playing Lando for the Lego world (in both The Yoda Chronicles and The Lego Movie), but there’s definitely something just amazing about seeing him in the amazing animation and awesome visual style in Rebels. That first cocky expression he makes…! I about died squee-ing! This episode reminded me why I love this guy so much. Ahhhh I need to watch Empire Strikes Back now!! *Ahem* so anyway… yeah the guys are in troooooooublllllle…
So you know something’s wrong when Chopper comes in griping, Zeb says “I can explain…”, and the three are joined by an uninvited new guy. Kanan introduces him to the others, letting them know they’re intending to help him get past the Imperial blockade. Hera picks up pretty fast that something’s up, but that’s just what she do. And once Lando mentions that he’ll be returning their droid along with their payment, Hera is not happy. We’re talking using-Zeb’s-full-name not happy. And when Zeb throws the blame back to Kanan… she literally goes and slugs him in the arm. Yup this is why we don’t cross Captain Syndulla. Hehe I love how Kanan shrugs like “hey that’s just Hera for you, whatcha gonna do?” XD So now the Ghost crew doesn’t have much choice in helping out Mr. Calrissian. Off they go…!
And they haven’t gotten far before Lando interjects some of his charm into the conversation… ermargosh the way he sorta compliments Hera’s piloting skills and the way she rolls it off…! Priceless. So much priceless. Gotta love that swag, am I right? OK Hera’s not loving it, and Kanan shoots quite the look of disapproval in his direction. Chopper seems to be enjoying himself a bit, though, ’cause now that he’s Lando’s droid, he doesn’t have to take orders from the Ghost crew anymore. So Lando takes advantage of this and asks Chop for a tour, which the little booger does without question. Ah ironyyyy. And THEN he brings him coffee! We all know that this was part of the droid’s little plan to take Mr. Calrissian’s fuel in the end, but for a while it seemed that all that charm of his was working on Chopper. Ezra doesn’t seem terribly impressed either. Especially after Lando compliments Sabine’s artwork. Ohhhmergosh… XD He compared it to that of another great anti-Empire artist’s work, but “more stunning”. That’d be like someone telling me my art outdid that of Jason Deamer, or Carter Goodrich, or Killian Plunkett! And this pretty much one-upped any compliment Ezra made on her art because Lando has something to compare it to. Yeah methinks Ezra feels Lando to be too smooth for his own good. And the way Zeb is holding back laughing at the whole scene XD Yes whether you’re Han, or Ezra, or to a lesser extent perhaps Kanan… smoothness is overrated.
So on their way to Lando’s supplier’s place, well… yeah… “You got the goods?” “…Always.” THAT LOOK ON HIS FACE. HERA’S EYEROLL. KANAN’S DISAPPROVING GLARE. CAN’T. EVEN. OK so anyway, Lando’s got this as he, Hera, and Kanan board. Or so he says. Just sayin’, this ship does have escape pods. And yes behind every swaggy scoundrel is a dude you don’t want to cross paths with. In this case, Azmorigan. Yeahhh… just watching him eat like he does made me immediately check my manners while eating. Props to his voice actor though, who I believe was Chi Fu in Mulan. He’s got what Lando wants… and Lando happens to be offering up a fabulous deal on a TWI’LEK. On HERA. WHUT. And now we’re torn as to whether Calrissian knows what he’s doing or if something’s seriously wrong here. And good question; Lando didn’t know the ship he’d be riding on would have a Twi’lek captain… so what was he originally going to trade? Or was he intending to trade whoever was on board? It’s all a mystery. Anyway, Kanan wasn’t really fond of this deal, but Hera is a bit more savvy that he knows and goes along with it. It’s definitely interesting watching this. When they were introducing the Rebels cast for the first time, I loved that the captain was a girl Twi’lek, mainly because, well, who was the first girl Twi’lek in Star Wars? Oola, the unfortunate dancer who got eaten by the rancor. It’s a completely common sight in the SW universe, seeing Twi’lek ladies in seedy places. Hera’s far from that, and is a self-reliant, caring, strong individual who doesn’t take crud from anyone. So yeesh it must’ve been weird for her to suddenly kinda play the role of the naive slave girl. She may play her voice a little bit softer, but the looks she’s shooting Lando’s way are not too sweet. And so, Kanan and Lando return back to the Ghost without their captain. Lando’s chill with it, as he believes Hera will stick to the plan. The “plan” being the one he vaguely hinted at earlier. Kanan is so not happy right now. First Chopper, and now Hera! Greaaaaat. And what was it that Lando was willing to trade for Hera for? He calls it “sophisticated mining equipment”, and tells Zeb and Ezra not to startle it. Real smart. Leave a box with something mysterious inside alone with these two. Honestly Lando you have no one to blame but yourself for what happens later.
Sooo how’s Hera enjoying the new master? Not so much. Azmorigan’s not as bad as Jabba… but he’s not really much better either. I did find it funny how much he really digs into that fruit, and then two seconds later throws the thing over his shoulder like trash. Thankfully he’s more into his food than his Twi’lek right now, ’cause Hera’s sticking to her own plan. Yup, it’s amazing what a food tray can do! Along with a little sweet-talking, you can do pretty much anything… or at least escape from this punk’s ship. Hehe I’m getting all these Indiana Jones vibes right now… 🙂 Like a boss, Captain Syndulla. Like. a. boss.
And right on schedule, Lando spots the escape pod Hera took. “…You really should have more faith in our captain,” “Our captain?”. Might Kanan be a little jelly? I’m sure he’d deny it if you asked him. So Hera made it off that pod and back on board without any problem. Though Lando did not quite expect the greeting he got from her… dang that must’ve hurt. And did anyone pick up on the way his voice kinda went up a couple of octaves after that blow? Yeah, now you know even more why we don’t cross the captain. Oh and new problem: Imperial blockade. Hera asks him what exactly he was smuggling that was so important, and it seems Zeb and Ezra have already discovered that for themselves. A chubby little critter that soon reveals itself to be a puffer pig. It makes Ezra and Zeb give chase and gets looks from everyone else. Oh, and the whole frightening experience may have triggered the whole “puffer” part of “puffer pig”… it expands. A lot. Like the whole hallway’s width. Kanan won’t even ask. I have to say the puffer pig might be one of my fave SW critters now. Right up there with tauntauns, monkey-lizards, mookas, whatever Boga is, and a bunch of others I don’t know the name of. She’s quite the adorable little piggy isn’t she? Also, she’s the perfect mining tool, a digger with a nose for precious minerals. And something that would go undetected by radar after the last mining-equipment-smuggling job he pulled here. But to make sure the Imperials don’t pick up on who they are, Lando sends out Chopper to fix that cloaking device. And again, Chopper is a good little droid and does just that. The Ghost was about to get through with flying colors… and then Ezra overheard Lando asking about purchasing some of Sabine’s art. You’d think a twentysomething smuggler wouldn’t be worth worrying about at his age, but Ezra is willing to climb over an inflated puffer pig to give Lando some choice words. But then Ezra stepped on the pig’s head, startled it again, made it expand again (while plastering young Bridger onto the roof), and the force threw Zeb into the control panel, turning off their cloaking. Much facepalm. And onward cometh the TIEs! With Miss Puffer Piggy blocking the door, it’s just Zeb and Kanan at the controls, trying to figure out how to fly and shoot at the same time. It’s a bit of a challenge until Hera brilliantly suggests to take a turn into the clouds, which ultimately steers the team to victory!
Finally the Ghost touches back down on Lothal at Lando’s little neck of the woods. But so much for getting paid and hitting the road, because… yup, Azmorigan showed up. With bodyguards. And guns. And he wants his pig and his Twi’lek back. Oh, and to “bury Calrissian”. Yeah let’s just say the negotiations were short. Really short. ‘Cause before you know it Azmorigan’s shooting all over the place and his men are shooting all over the place. In the midst of the battle, Ezra pulls out his new ‘saber… except that he’s using it to shoot energy blasts. I love Kanan’s response; “Wait… mine doesn’t do that!” XD XD Good point, do you think any Jedi has ever had a multi-use lightsaber like that before? Like, in the way that it shoots and ‘sabers? I don’t know, but it couldn’t be more perfect for him. After all, now he can carry his lightsaber for when he needs it without arousing Imperial suspicion and still be able to fight baddies when need be! Maybe he should offer to built these extensions onto the lightsabers of other surviving Jedi, that’d be cool. Though considering Obi-Wan’s doesn’t have one I guess it didn’t catch on. Though our team does have a secret weapon — the pig. After Zeb scares the poor thing again, Miss Puffer Piggy inflates and actually bounces like an oversized balloon into the paths of Azmorigan’s gunmen. Zeb gives the expression that seems to say “What… just happened?” and Sabine’s all “IDK but I’m just gonna roll with it”. And all the while, Chopper is bent on getting this fuel tank into the Ghost. But then alas… Azmorigan has Zeb at gunpoint and makes a deal: Lando for Zeb and all their freedom. Kanan and Ezra don’t bat an eyelash and agree to this. But Hera has other plans. Because guess who was at the guns inside the Ghost? Chopper! Yeah Azmorigan and his goons were outta there in a hurry.
Ultimately, it seems things went… mostly well. The payment Lando intended to give them was to take place after his pig found something of value. So the most they got out of this deal was Chop back. Hera makes it clear that Lando still owes her big-time. But Mr. Calrissian still brushes it off in the cool and confident way he does. He promises Chopper they’ll meet again… and I say “YESYESYESYES!!” to that, though our heroes may have some differing opinions on that matter 🙂 But in the end, it did give the gang a greater appreciation of their faithful droid and their faithful captain. Hurhur Ezra doesn’t miss a beat though “I always appreciated you, Sabine” “Yes Ezra I know…” XD And Chopper stole Lando’s fuel. So the crew’s got what they need to fight another day. Woot teamwork! But turns out that Lando had fully intended for them to take the fuel as payment. Aw, you ol’ smoothie 😀
So that was awesome. Seriously seriously awesome! I thank you all for joining me on this fabRebelous journey through Idiot’s Array (sorry terrible pun I will never do it again *crosses fingers*). So until we meet again, Star Wars fans!

Hello again SW fans! Ready for another Rebel Transmission? Of course you are! Why else are you here?
Oh… to get Qui-Gon Jinn quotes? *Sigh* You guys know I didn’t ever post any right?? But maybe someday I’ll do something with that IDK…
Anyhoo, today we’re about to dig deep into the fantastic episode known as Empire Day, and ohhhhh buddy there’s a lot a lot a lot to talk about!! Get on board and let’s go!NOTE: Contains spoilers from Episode II, Episode III, Episode IV, Episode VI, The Yoda Chronicles, TCW episode To Catch A Jedi, and the Rebels episode Empire Day.

So what are our favorite Rebels up to today? The plan’s not yet clear, but our good friends Hera, Zeb, and Sabine are on the move through the alleys of the Capital. But before continuing elsewhere, Sabine takes a moment and glances back fondly to the Ghost, where stand Kanan and Ezra in the midst of some Jedi training. I find it interesting that she did stop to watch them a second with a legit smile on her face… I’m guessing it has a lot to do with how much we all love the father-son relationship formed by these two 🙂 Orrrr perhaps she’s watching because she somehow knows that Ezra will be attacked by an angry mooka shortly. I could see that.
Kanan’s next lesson in Force 101 is helping Ezra understand the Force-y connections among Jedi and others. But Ezra’s really not into it today, it seems, for reasons we do not yet know. So when Kanan throws a pebble for Ezra to Force-grab, it instead hits a figure in the tall grass… that angry mooka we mentioned earlier (and yes I’m aware I might’ve spelled it wrong, before you serious SW fans send bounty hunters after me). It’s funny, we’ve seen them briefly in the Clone Wars, but they never came off this nasty… or big; like seriously that thing is bigger than Ezra’s head, which gives it quite the advantage when it decides to tear the kid’s face off. Kanan tries to get it through his head that he needs to be willing to let his guard down if he wants to connect, and also that this mooka evidently senses fear. Ezra however… well yeah, gets a mooka to the face XD I’m sorry I’m sorry but it just is that funny, mkay? So it comes second-nature to young Bridger to throw the fuzzy guy off and ask for his master’s ‘saber. But Kanan reexplains that if you want to be able to connect to others, you have to be willing to get your guard down and connect with them first. And for Master Jarrus, the mooka goes from tiny tiger to fuzzy kitten in seconds ( Also, this proves the fact that Luke could’ve evaded the rancor with the same mindwork Vaash Ti used in The Yoda Chronicles!). But this is more than just about making friends with the wildlife, it’s about being willing to let go of the past and be OK with who you are. Yeah Ezra’s not feeling that this particular day… considering it’s his least favorite day of the year: Empire Day. And speak of the devil along comes three TIEs in formation. Class is over, and our Jedi make a dash for the city to find out what they’re up to.
So three TIE pilots walk into a club/cantina/bar… no, it’s not a joke, it’s actually where those TIEs were going. But these guys didn’t come here for a complimentary Empire Day cupcake. On their heels are Kanan and Ezra, whose cautiousness reminds me a whole lot of those couple of times Obi-Wan and one of the Skywalker boys walked into such a place. Watch your step. Sitting nonchalantly the other side of the room are Zeb and Hera, whose casual demeanor keeps them from raising any Imperial eyebrows. But that’s mostly because the Imperials found someone else worth talking to… a Rodian. Though after a few moments, the pilots realize that he’s not the Rodian they’re looking for and move along. But in those brief moments, Ezra spotted the photo of the one they were looking for… someone he recognizes. Oooooh… intrigue!
And then one of the pilots finds something else to get mad about; he demands the barkeep to play the Holonet News on their screens, even though the barkeep tells him that the news isn’t exactly requested a lot around here (gee I wonder why?!). Psh unfair. Also, aside from the surrealness of the barkeep being an Ithorian with a translator, there is an old clone helmet on the bar behind him! Wonder how they got a ahold of that! Did some Clone Wars skirmish happen on Lothal or did this guy buy it on eBay from a retired clone? Anyway, the Holonet News all-too happily proclaims this glorious Empire Day, the 15-year-anniversary of, obviously, the Empire! Which is also the fall of the Republic, and the day Order 66 happened, and the day two of our heroes’ lives got totally messed up both ways, and the day when two new hopes were born. Not a whole lot to celebrate, is there? Oh and adding to the surrealness I just mentioned there is a lovely photo of the Emperor himself with his guards, likely that very day they killed liberty. It almost looks live-action but it’s so blurry I’ll have to assume it’s still a painting. Still, it can be very surreal when you really realize how much the story really does tie together. I mean, yeah you can be aware that is takes place in this period of time, but when you just get a glimpse at this history in this day and age… whoa! The pilots immediately demand the customers to get celebrating… and thennn the broadcast is interrupted by our good anti-Imperial senator friend, who says quite the opposite! The pilot’s all “turn it off!” and the barkeep shoots back “Can’t, it’s the law remember?” BURNNN XD And thus the TIE guys walk out in a huff. Our rebel friends aren’t sure why the Empire’s looking for some Rhodian, but they’ve got other things to worry about, like their fantastic plan for the Empire Day parade! But Ezra… Ezra needs some time alone… he really isn’t feeling it today. And he finds that time alone in his old home, the abandoned communication tower. In some ways, I’m surprised that it’s still vacant, still untouched by the Empire, and still has all of his other stuff in it. But for his sake I’m quite glad. Among this stuff is a tin box, and in it is something that we later identify as a key. Ezra just takes a moment, holding this piece of his past. The regrets, the hurt, the sorrow… gahhh I about started ugly crying here. And then he hears a voice… the audible voice of his mother. And then the same for his father. Bringing up memories of his life once, long ago. It seems very clear that Ezra really did hear them… and even though these are memories, I was unaware Jedi could do that. Of course, there’s still a lot I don’t know about Jedi, or maybe I’m taking all of this too literally. And what could this mean if it is found that his parents are dead? Were his parents Jedi? I figure not, but one has to wonder. But all theorizing and rationalizing aside, it was all I could do not to cry my stinkin’ eyes out at this. The Bridgers sound like really good people. Remembering the words his father once told him, standing up for others and helping those in need is always the right thing to do. And it’s then when Ezra realizes something, and that realization will lead him back to a place he thought he’d never return… intrigue squared!
Meanwhile, everyone and their brother showed up for the Empire Day parade, mostly because they probably had to or else. It’s indeed quite a show, with all the walkers and the ‘trooper transports and The Imperial March as happy as one could play it. Good point is there a band playing this or is it going over the speakers? *Imagines Stormtrooper wearing a tuba and falls over laughing* Either way, it’s still a rather ominous tune any way you spin it. And the parade itself isn’t exactly Macy’s, but yet, people are politely clapping, whether they’re pro-Empire or not, mostly because Jerk Imperial #2 won’t have it any other way. And then they bring out the glorious new TIE fighter model, streamlined, smooth, and the coolest new thing in the Empire. Even Hera looks impressed, but that TIE happens to be our rebels’ target. Now it’s a party, ladies and gents! Starting it off would be a lovely display of fireworks, courtesy of Sabine. Seriously if she wasn’t in the rebel business she ought to make fireworks for a living… it combines her two favorite things: explosives and art! And everybody’s impressed by the light show, even the Imperials! While everyone was distracted by the display, Kanan made a move for that fancy TIE… with detanators in hand. Ohhh friends these fireworks are nothin’… just wait until these go off! But then Kanan ran into some trouble, read: a suspicious Stormtrooper. So Kanan puts on this hilarious guise as a seriously huge Empire fan, raving about the fantastic fireworks. I love how he’s both convincing and not convincing at the same time, also how he threw out “like… a rainbow!”, making me imagine him as the double-rainbow guy. “Double rainbow all the wayyyyy…!” XD XD Then Ezra cuts in, apologizing to the ‘trooper about his rather uber-patriotic dad. And Kanan’s still playing the role to a somewhat obnoxious point, and Ezra’s painfully smiling as if to say “OK ‘Dad’ you can stop now you’re just embarrassing yourself at this point.” XD Thankfully, the ‘trooper doesn’t pick up on the act and sends them on their way… and just then do the real fireworks start. And kaboom goes the ‘Fighter! But as soon as something goes wrong… in comes Agent Kallus… AND The Inquisitor! Lovely. The commanding sideburns and the classy ‘saber-wielder just joined the party. Zeb attempted aim at Quizzy and instead hit the dude’s TIE, further sending the crowds running and pushing our heroes on, as well as eliciting a pretty nasty look from the ‘Quiz. With all the panic going on, Hera’s not able to rendevouz with our heroes, but that’s where Ezra has an idea as to the perfect hiding place, and it happens to be the place to which his key unlocks… his long-abandoned old home. But Ezra didn’t come here just to give his comrades a hiding spot… he also felt something was here he needed to find. Or in this case, someone. Underneath what appears to be an ottoman or a table is a tunnel of sorts, probably leading to the basement, and in that tunnel sits a Rodian, who looks to be all kinds of petrified, disturbed, and confused. This would be Tseebo, the Rodian the Empire was looking for, and an old family friend of the Bridgers. But the poor guy seems to be pretty out-of-sorts, walking around with some device stuck to his noggin and reciting random information in his native language. And bumping into walls. As Sabine deduces, the device in question is something the Empire used to increase productivity and kill off any personality. As it is, Tseebo was forced to work for the Empire after Ezra’s parents were taken away. Oh mai… the truth’s starting to reveal itself. Ezra’s not interested in retelling his sad backstory too much. But ohmygosh he spent eight years of his life on his own! I know he wouldn’t want me to feel sorry for him, and I’m not… but I do hurt for him. But then Sabine picks up on some of this seemingly incoherent rambling of Tseebo’s, and it’s lots and lots of stuff the Empire wouldn’t want getting out. That would explain it. And then for the moment Ezra ducks down the tunnel for a second, Tseebo rattles off something even more shocking… today is the boy’s fifteenth birthday! So yeah he’s born on Empire day which is unfortunate, but so also was a farm boy on Tatooine… and a princess on Alderaan. HOLY MOS EISLEY EZRA WAS BORN ON THE SAME DAY LUKE AND LEIA WERE!!! :O Blown your mind I have, because it sure blew mine! And if today was also the day that the Empire made off with his parents, it definitely makes sense as to why this is a bummer day for him. I still can’t get over how crazy cool this is. Turns out three young heroes share the same birthday! Who’da thunk it? 🙂
Down below, Ezra was hit by another barrelload of memories as he found his parents’ old broadcaster. It appears that his folks were seriously in the business of tripping up the Empire, even if only in delivering news that the Empire wouldn’t approve of, with a fierce desire to fight for their freedom, and for their son’s freedom. And Tseebo had been involved in it as well. Sabine comes down briefly to see if he’s OK, but Ezra shoves the memories away and retreats back topside. Once back upstairs, Sabine finally activates a chunk of the doohickey that will let them see exactly what the poor Rodian’s got crammed in his head. And as we see, he pretty much remembers everything, from weaponry to ships to some five-year plan for the Outer Rim (I know I’m not the only one who really wants to find out what that’s about), and he’s a loose cannon at the moment. Our heroes decide pretty quickly that it’s time to get Tseebo off-world and out of the Empire’s path. If of course they can get him out the door, which he promptly runs into. Sorry again but that was a nice dash of levity right there XD
So after making quick work of a bunch of Stormtroopers, Kanan, Sabine, and Ezra, along with Tseebo, make a dash for a troop transport, and they’re on their way to the rendevouz. And not even a completely blocked-off street lined with ‘troopers, transports, walkers, and Jerk Imperial #1 can stop them. Like literally they drive that puppy right on through the walker and a transport. That my friends is awesome. But naturally this fires up a bit of a transport chase through the streets. With Kallus and Quizzy joining the chase as well. Oh joy. And danggg were there some close calls! I literally gasped when that ‘trooper nearly knocked Kanan out of the vehicle and the other one very nearly shot him! But Master Jarrus has the Force on his side and they don’t, so win for him. But Kallus is no quitter, and the guy literally climbs out of his transport and jumps on top of the one our heroes are driving! Thankfully, the Ghost is now following behind as well, and Zeb is more than happy to fire off a few rounds at the Agent. And then Chopper mans the guns and fires the bad guys’ transport in spectacular fashion, sending the thing flipping and sprawling along the street. And Chopper does a little victory spin “WHOOPWHOOPWHOOPWHOOP!”. Because he can. Zeb managed to knock Kallus off the transport temporarily, but it didn’t hold him down permanently, and now he’s clawing his way back onto the vehicle! Just as our heroes and tagalong are climbing topside to get into the safety of the Ghost! And then Kallus starts shooting at Kanan and Kanan has to pull out his lightsaber as fast as he can and starts deflecting the blasts, just as he makes a one-in-a-million Jedi leap into the ship. But they’re not out of the woods yet… The Inquisitor’s leading the TIE attack! And just when you think our heroes will be able to escape, ‘Quiz hits the back of the Ghost, and thus hits Chopper! NO NOT CHOPPERRRRR!!! As Sabine dashes off to add some of her own laserfire to the mix, a bump on the ship knocks Ezra into Tseebo… and suddenly, the Rodian’s no longer in his mindless state! And he remembers Ezra instaneously! And then he delivers one very hasty, very serious sentence. One that Sabine translates to mean that he knows what happened to Ezra’s parents. No emoticon can adequately express my shock at this revelation. And very very likely, young Bridger will want to know. BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL PART 2. And nobody told me this was going to be a two-parter so this is kind of head-explodingly huge. AHH MONDAY CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGHHH!!
I would normally sit here and theorize on what’s to happen, but I don’t think I can say much that hasn’t already been said. Just have to ultimately wait and see! It really is an amazing episode, and will guaranteed be only more amazing once we see how it all turns out! Will Chopper be OK? Will the Ghost crew escape? And what difference will the knowledge of what happened to the Bridgers make?? Until then…

Sorry to interrupt the awesomeness that have been the Uncovering The Lost Missions posts, but I can’t pass the newest Lego SW special by without writing a Closer Look on it! When I first heard there would be a new Yoda Chronicles episode, I was shocked; it seemed that it’d all been wrapped up nicely after Attack Of The Jedi, and I certainly didn’t think it’d be airing on Disney Channel! And it didn’t get any publicity on starwars.com, which also felt weird. But it was awesomely awesome, so really who cares that it didn’t get as talked-about as the other three before it? So I bring to you, my friends, the first blog on The New Yoda Chronicles, Escape From The Jedi Temple! Let’s get talkin’ shall we?NOTE: Contains spoilers from Episode III, Episode IV, Episode V, The Padawan Menace, The Phantom Clone, Menace Of The Sith, Attack Of The Jedi, Escape From The Jedi Temple and the TCW episodes Conspiracy, Fugitive, and Orders.

So our story opens, as far as I can tell, in the moments after the Death Star was destroyed in Episode IV. I mean, it’s hard to tell in some ways, because, I mean, Luke was more-or-less in the cockpit of his x-wing after that, and here’s the whole gang in the Falcon, partying it up! And yeah Leia might’ve been at the command center and stuff, too… I know that most don’t consider the Lego SW stuff canon but I kind of try to for the most part, and I’m a little stumped on this one. Unless, of course, it’s wedged somewhere in all the craziness that conspired between episodes IV and V that we don’t know a lot about. But anyway, what do you know, the Falcon really does still have its party lights! Whether the disco floor is still there is unknown, but still! Haha I’d called it from the get-go back when The Phantom Clone debuted! But Threepio’s not enjoying himself too much as the giant scrolling credits in front of the ship seem to denote that their victory is a tad premature. And that’s where I busted out laughing; that was one of the absolute funniest jokes Lego SW’s done yet! No one else is really worried though and Han’s all “Relax, Goldypants…” (which is an awesome line because that’s exactly what Han called Threepio back when he met the golden droid as a kid in The Padawan Menace). Oh but thennn along came Vader, sending major threats their way, even if the Falcon crew couldn’t hear it (which the rest of the Imperials seem to enjoy reminding him of; dude just let Vader do what he wants! He’s VADER!). So what did Luke do? He decided to take the wheel and drove the Falcon right over the Star Destroyer! And his hard-for-a-Star-Destroyer-to-imitate manuevers worked… at least until Luke accidentally turned the funkadelic lights back on and the onward came the TIE fighters! I think it’s a universal rule that Luke shouldn’t ever drive the Falcon and Han shouldn’t ever use a lightsaber, and this is why (unless, of course, lives are stake and they’re desperate, but otherwise it’s not a smart idea).
Now, Master Yoda didn’t have to be there to know that Luke just did something majorly stupid, he could totally sense it. And that’s about when he got a knock his door from his now-one-with-the-Force buddy Obi-Wan, who comes with important news. And it’s news best shared over a fire with MARSHMALLOWS!!! So Obi-Wan got all hyped telling Yoda about him helping Luke destroy the Death Star while Yoda attempted to decently roast his marshmallow. I just love seeing them together again, doing something kinda normal, just hanging out like nothing’s weird — even though Yoda’s been living here alone for some time and Obi-Wan’s um… a Force ghost. Pass the marshmallows, guys! 🙂 So anyway, despite Obi-Wan’s thrilled with Luke’s progress, Yoda isn’t too sure that Luke’s ready for legit Jedi training, but holocron training might be up young Skywalker’s alley! Ah yes, the holocrons… that takes the two Masters back to the last time they hung out, back when they found themselves in a rush to recover those very holocrons from Empire-heavy Coruscant…
A longer time ago in the same galaxy… (hehe I love that) we find ourselves in the throes of the events of Episode III, as Obi-Wan just minutes ago brought little Luke to Tatooine. And you know I’ve always wondered what went down when Obi-Wan first arrived on Tatooine, evidently he wasn’t done with his special delivery for three minutes before a bunch of tusken raiders showed up and Ben had to coin his inhuman easily-startles raider screech (I’ve always found that majorly impressive! My other question is whether or not they made Sam Vincent actually do it of if they recovered old archive audio from Episode IV). Master Kenobi makes one last (assumptively) transmission to Bail Organa and Yoda, his post-Order 66 comrades when Yoda’s all “Wait… you did get all the holocrons from the Jedi Temple right?” and Obi-Wan’s like “I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO GET THEM!” and Bail’s all “Uh… I have no idea what you’re talking about… holo-what?”. Recently they released a new Lego SW short that explains exactly why they had this communication mishap (See it here), but either way, it looks like the threesome’s adventures weren’t over yet. And then the tusken raiders came back — AND IN GREATER NUMBERS!! 😆 Obi-Wan was forced to grab Jabba’s sail barge and make a run for it. and the Hutt didn’t know what hit him.
Meanwhiles on Coruscant, the Senate’s under new management as the Emperor himself rocks out to the Imperial March and re-clarifies his new role (and reminds a Republic-minded senator who’s the boss), and on top of all of that, he reveals Vader to the public for the first time! Vader tried for a majorly dramatic intro, but things didn’t go as planned… he hasn’t quite gotten used to the new legs, which seem intent on walking him into a wall. Nice to see that even Vader has his awkward moments every now and again.
So back on Kashyyk, the threesome met back to discuss the plan, where we get to meet up with the droids again, and Threepio is a completely new droid — not just because he’s had his memory wiped, but since then he’s become a more daring, takes-his-own-orders Threepio. Yoda thinks he’s pretty cool up until Threepio calls him a “little green boy”. Oooh that wasn’t cool. But then again, it’s got to be a little nice for Yoda to be considered much younger than he already is 🙂 And while it at first seems it’s going to be a small team, who would show up but the younglings themselves! I am so so so thankful for the fact that Rako, Bene, Vaash Ti, and Bobby escaped Order 66. All of them were evidently in the Outer Rim when the cray happened. And considering all of the near-death escapes they’ve had, I’m just glad they survived the Clone Wars to begin with! And they happened to have brought their friend JEK-14 along as well! Again, so happy he’s alive! And since learning the secrets of Order 66 in the first few episodes of The Lost Missions, I’m really happy to see he’s not in a Jedi-killing mood (I’m hoping he got that chip removed, assuming it was just a weird tumor and never questioned it). Now, the second before he switches to his ‘Trooper armor, I can’t help but notice that he’s dressed to the nines, looking like he must hold a very important role in politics. I’d always figured he stayed on Endor, but I guess he found a new home at some point. Maybe somewhere nearish Endor? Or maybe whatever planet the forest moon orbits? I can’t stand the fact that I’m not SW-literate enough to recognize his outfit! Either way, it’s good to see he’s been doing well, living a chill pacifist life, and now he’s back to fight for his good guy friends. And finally, along came… an Ithorian Jedi nobody remembers. The situation is incredibly awkward as Yoda tries to be cool and not let on that he doesn’t remember the guy’s name. The Ithorian tries to clear things up; friends call him “Rusty” and he was in Obi-Wan’s class when they were younglings. Obi-Wan plays the card a lot more smoothly, after all, he’s known for having friends all over the galaxy. But Rusty picks up pretty fast that his old lab partner/roommate doesn’t remember diddly about him. And I have to say it’s pretty cool that they have lab in the Jedi Temple Academy 🙂 But all awkwardness aside, the team sets out to recover the Jedi holocrons!
By the time the team had infiltrated the Temple grounds in their awesome stealth ships (courtesy of JEK), they find a kink in their plan — Sidious is using the holocron room as a home theater (watching Attack Of The Jedi, of all things… smiling ’cause he knows how it all ultimately ended). Obi-Wan, watching from the safety of Yoda’s ship outside the planet, attempts to ask Rusty to create a diversion, but he’s not having it; “OH SURE NOWWW YOU REMEMBER ME!” “Dude how many times must I say I’m sorry?!” XD But when you need a diversion, Threepio’s your droid! He steps out with a blaster and starts taking down the stormtroopers one by one while Bail is sorta freaking out. Ah gotta love it when Threepio’s all “THIS IS NOT THE DROID YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!” and “NOW IT’S YOUR LOT IN LIFE TO SUFFER!”. And with all that scuffle going on, Sidious had to leave his popcorn behind and look into it himself. And dude, Threepio takes down the Emperor like a champion, knocking down a couple of statues on top of the dark dude! WINNING. But it may not be for long, as Vader just got word of the crazy going on outside, and he makes a dash for the door — and the realizes he forgot his helmet and has to go back and get it. Yeesh don’t ever do that again, Darth…
And with that, Vader walks out to find all the carnage caused by a protocol droid, of all things. You’d think that Vader would’ve recognized Threepio, but with that personality, he didn’t know him from an astromech! (Like “didn’t know him from Adam”? Get it? Sorry.) But all the same as soon as Darth points out Threepio’s being a protocol droid, Threepio loses his cool (quite literally) and starts panicking. So basically after accidentally alerting Vader to the younglings’ mission, Bail and the golden droid start running for their peace-loving lives.
So with the Emperor out of the way, the younglings and JEK start getting the holocrons together. It’s quite convenient that they stack together like Lego bricks! …Oh, right… that would explain it; but I wonder if they really can do that! But then in stepped Vader, knocking JEK against the wall, and in turn knocking his Force-enriched arm off. This got me thinking… I’ve always figured that JEK’s arm was a real flesh-and-bone arm (yes I think about these things – I want to make an action figure of him), and you know how eyes and his arm are glowing blue? I like to think that that’s because he has so much of the Force running through him it can barely be contained and somehow most of it accumulated in the veins of his left arm and in the blood vessels in his eyes. But this begs the question… is it just a mechanical arm? Or is this just something that again only Lego characters can do? I still like my theory, so I might just stick it to them being Legos. If this was an episode of Rebels or something he probably wouldn’tve knocked his arm off. But whatever the point was that now these kids are alone facing Vader (well, they wouldn’t be alone if Rusty hadn’t so quickly gotten Force-pushed, but at least Vader remembered him!), and we know that younglings are rather his specialty… but these four are giving Vader a run for his money!
So I wanted to stop for a second and talk about the younglings some. This episode has made me love them even more, because it just goes to show a bit how they’ve grown up and how they’ve bonded, and hey all the respect to ya, you SURVIVED ORDER 66! I also really really want to make action figures of them, too 🙂 And since we know that Vaash Ti is twelve, I’ve made some assumptions on the ages of the others. Bobby is clearly the youngest and is still fairly young, so I’m figuring him for ten at least, which would mean he would’ve been about… what? Seven in the first few episodes? IDK. Considering Rako’s slightly-matured voice, I’ll peg him as somewhere around fourteen, maybe thirteen or fifteen even. Bene seems to be the second-oldest, so maybe a year younger than Rako, though she might be even older for all we know. I want to know more about these kids so much more now! They’re just the greatest! *Crosses fingers in hopes that they might join the Rebel Alliance and show up in SW Rebels*
So in the midst of it all, Rusty managed to get ahold of JEK’s arm and helps the clone get back on his feet, where he could help fight, but Vaash Ti throws him an idea that could be a better alternative to fighting…
But while they were off elsewhere, Vader had Rako, Bene, and Bobby in his grip, and we pretty much undeniably cringe for what could happen next and just minutes before the last blow was struck, a familiar voice rang out in the distance… “LET HER GO, ANAKIN…” so naturally Vader’s all “Whut.” and drops the kids to find out if he was hearing who he thought he was hearing. And walking down the hallway, it appears that Obi-Wan’s come back. Lord Vader’s up for a showdown, but doesn’t see it coming that, oh hey, it’s kinda just a hologram, and Vaash Ti and JEK are at the other end of it *facepalm*. You think he would’ve sensed his presence if it was the real Obi-Wan, but perhaps all the head trauma he’d been through the last couple of days numbed his Force-sensing abilities some (catching fire can do that to a guy). And so, JEK Force-pushed him against the wall and built a nifty set of jail bars (the guy is definitely a Master Builder; Lego Movie reference). Onward went the good guys with the holocrons!
But fact is… keeping Vader down for a long period of time is generally impossible.
Whilst all this insanity was going on, Threepio and Bail panicked their way into hiding in a Imperial ship, which as you can figure may or may not end well. And it doesn’t seem to promise a better ending when they accidentally start it up in all of their panicking. I usually think of Bail being a braver guy than this, but cut him some slack! The Republic he’s been serving for so long just got fried, and also he’s on a risky mission with a bunch of Jedi, who tend to get involved in scary situations at times (better not tell him his daughter is Force-sensitive…).
JEK, Rusty, and the younglings had finally gotten aboard their stealth ships and moved out, but that’s where our little panic team comes in and well… exposed them. FAIL. Thus began the space battle!
Now, early on in the battle, Vader’s TIE fighter shoots down JEK’s ship pretty quickly. And what scares me is that WE DON’T SEE HIM AGAIN AFTERWARD. Auggggh did JEK-14 just die?! I seriously hope not! Though if he did, he went down helping his friends and doing the right thing, and if a SW character goes down, going down a hero is the best, most respectful way to do it. I suppose we’ll have to see if our clone friend ever shows up again, even if it’s as a Force ghost (with all that power, I would be surprised if he didn’t already have the ability to keep his identity in the Force). Oh wait, I just checked, he’s not dead! His ship is still flying aside the younglings and he’s still in the cockpit! *Phew* OK sorry for freaking out there. JEK LIVES!!
But JEK’s not the only hero out here today; Rusty finally made his mark and kept the holocrons safe when the back of their ship was damaged. You go, Rusty! In the end, Threepio and Bail unexpectedly saved the day by ramming their ship into the TIE fighters! And in the process, Vader’s TIE fighter gets its Episode IV look (you’d have to see it for it make sense) 🙂 Though it looks like ultimately, Threepio’s getting his memory wiped yet again… yeah that had to happen. So quite the victory today! And now Obi-Wan’s buried the holocrons in the Tatooine desert where a arrow-shaped formation of bones marks the spot until the day Luke gets his Jedi training on.
So after the fond walk down memory lane, Ben can’t stay and chat much longer as he rushes off to tell Luke about the holocrons. But what he doesn’t know is that it’s kinda at a bad moment… the Falcon’s still on the run from the Vader and his gang. Han and Leia are arguing the heads off (what else is new?) and Luke’s feeling like dirt from the mistake he made. And then he hears Ben’s voice once more, which wasn’t a big deal, but when Ben meets him in the hallway in his ghostly form, Luke freaks out and pulls out his lightsaber on him (which btdubs is kind of pointless). Wow. Dude, it’s a Force ghost, get over it. You wished that Ben was here and now he is! What’s your problem?! And then when that fails Luke pulls out a blaster, which again, does no good… in fact, it hits the hyperdrive button and sends the Falcon blasting into hyperspace without any clue of where they’re going. Oh, and Vader continues the chase into hyperspace as well. Soooo that’s really not good. Ben apologizes to Luke for getting in the way, but it’s then when the two get a marvelous idea! Luke slams the hyperdrive button again, which basically slams the brakes and stops them from crashing headlong into Naboo. While Ben shows up in his ghostly form and freaks Vader out (like father, like son, right?), causing him to make quite the crash landing… and his day only gets worse from there. He lands dead-on into Naboo, right at the feet of (who else?) Jar Jar! And the gungan can’t help but be happy to see him, more machine than man and all! Plus, he brought his three kids along to play with “Uncle Ani”! (I know I’m not the only one wondering when that happened…) So let’s just say that Vader is no match for three little gungans and their crayons 😆 Quite a fitting defeat on Vader’s part, I’d say!
So the Falcon crew is safe because Luke finally figured out that being humble is one of the first, most important things about being a Jedi, and now, Yoda knows that Luke is more than ready to start his holocron training. So now, as the holocrons call out to Luke and to Vader as well, the race is on to see who will get to them first…
So YUS!! Thank you Lego for bringing back The Yoda Chronicles and making them so so awesome! I anxiously await the next part’s arrival! So hope you guys enjoyed 🙂